A Nausicaä of the Valley of Wind Christmas
by ice73
Summary: [Nausicaa, Nausicaä of the Valley of Wind] What if the Valley of Wind was only one long flight away from our world? A mysterious voice in Nausicaä's heart prompts her to visit someone for the holidays.


**Disclaimer:** Nausicaä of the Valley of Wind and Studio Ghibli characters © Animage/ Hayao Miyazaki/ Studio Ghibli. This work is not intended for commercial gain or to otherwise challenge the status of these copyrights.

**Author's Note:** What if the Valley of Wind was only one long flight away from our world? A mysterious voice prompts Nausicaä to visit someone for the holidays.

**A NAUSICAÄ OF THE VALLEY OF WIND CHRISTMAS**

Winter never touched the Valley of Wind. All the destruction wrought during and after the Seven Days of Fire had seen to that. The weather was, notwithstanding the constant threat of the Forest of Corruption, generally mild and pleasant—if a bit breezy, hence the name—throughout the year.

But that didn't mean that Nausicaä didn't know what snow was. She had traveled far enough, and long enough, to know what it was. Frozen water, falling from the sky in flakes that resembled the spores that drifted down from the building-tall fungi in the Forest. She had even played in the stuff once, throwing snowballs at her friend Asbel, Prince of the destroyed city of Pejitei.

Now, as she flew her glider Mehve through blinding sheets of it, she had one more occasion to think back on how she had started _this_ journey.

She had returned to the Valley of Wind from a long trip down the coast with Mito, trying to help people resettle in the wake of the latest eruption of growth of the Forest. She was resting in her old room in what had been her father Jhil's castle, sitting by her bay window, watching the sun set, when someone knocked at the door.

"Come in," she called.

The door opened and a young man, barely older than she was, entered. He was garbed in a thick brown suit and had goggles on his head.

"Nausicaä," he said, bowing.

"Hello, Prince Asbel," she greeted him, standing up and returning the bow.

"I just wanted to report that we've gotten that Royal Yanma back into the Forest without any problem."

"Any sign that it brought spores along?" she asked, a look of concern on her face.

Asbel shook his head. "Some people are looking into it, but I don't think we need to be troubled about that." The spores were a source of constant worry to the people of the Valley; if even one took root and grew, it would signal the beginning of the end: it would spread itself rapidly, virtually immune to destruction, protected by horrendous insects like the Royal Yanma, until it finally covered the Valley and made it just one more arm of the Sea of Corruption.

"Thank you, Asbel. You didn't need to come all the way up here just to tell me that." She went to a side table and poured him some water in a ceramic glass. "You must be tired."

The displaced Prince of Pejitei gratefully accepted the glass and drank it down. "I thought you'd like to know." He watched the setting sun behind her glinting off her bobbed shoulder-length brown hair. He wouldn't tell her it was also an excuse for him to come see her—he had feelings for her, but knew she was far too busy to be able to spend any time or emotion on him.

She sat back down beside the window as he returned the glass to the table.

"How are your people doing, Asbel?"

"Just fine, Princess." Asbel wasn't the only Pejitan in the Valley; the Council of Elders had also granted permission for some of his people to come live with them. They were a welcome addition to a land where the mortality rate was extremely high: Nausicaä herself was the only survivor of eleven children, all her brothers and sisters having died early from absorbing the poison in their mother's body, in the process giving her a chance to live. "They've been working hard to give a good impression of themselves so far."

She smiled. "That's good to hear," she said, turning to stare out the window once more.

Asbel pushed a low stool beside her and sat. "What are you looking at, Nausicaä?"

"Oh, nothing much." They watched as, in the distance, a kite like Mehve—really nothing more than a flying wing—began to rise up in the air, tethered to a long rope, emitting a shrill sound designed to discourage insects from landing in the valley. "I was just thinking about something Mito said a while ago."

The mention of Nausicaä's crusty one-eyed guardian brought a smile to Asbel's face.

Nausicaä rested her chin on her hand. "I made a remark that I must have gone everywhere and seen everything there was to see. And he said, 'No one's ever gone to the other end of the sea, Princess.'"

A blade of the giant windmill mounted above Nausicaä's room slowly creaked past outside the window. "Is that true?"

"Well, no one's ever returned to tell about it, as far as I know. I was wondering about what must lie there."

Asbel fell silent for a few minutes, then shook his head. "Oh, now you've got me wondering about it too." Standing up, he removed his goggles. "I think I'll go and rest now." He nodded to her and walked to the door.

"Asbel," he heard her say as he gripped the door handle. He turned around.

She smiled at him. "Thank you."

His heart skipped a beat as he flashed one back at her. "No problem, Princess. It's the least I can do for allowing my people to settle down here." Opening the door, he let himself out.

------oOo------

"Now, this is crazy," remarked the old man wearing the eyepatch.

In the hangar bay at the base of the castle, Mito watched as his young charge strapped on her ear-flapped cloth helmet. "Princess, won't you reconsider?"

"No, Mito, I won't." Her brown eyes were full of sympathy as she told him, "Don't worry! I won't be going very far, and I'll have the Prince to escort me part of the way."

"But at a time like this! Don't you want to at least stay for some of the harvest festival?"

"Oh, Mito, I've already done my part opening it." She double-checked her pouch and saw to it that her sword was strapped securely in place at the small of her back. "Send the extra food to whoever can use it."

"Yeah, Mito, like me," joked the man beside him, a gap-toothed, wrinkly-faced fellow named Nobu. He was as thin as a rail.

"Ah, shut up, you." Mito sighed. "Nausicaä, like I always keep telling you, be careful."

She pulled on her thick leather gloves, gave her spats one last inspection, and kissed him on the cheek. "Of course. I'm always careful, am I not?"

Asbel appeared at a side entrance, carrying a heavily-laden sack. "All set?"

She nodded. "I'll ride up front." She glanced as he put the bag in her hands. "What's this for?"

"Provisions." Asbel put his own metal-studded leather cap on. "One never knows."

They quickly got into the craft mounted on the nearby catapult. It was the large, derringer-faced Eftal gunship, which Mito usually flew in when there was a chance of encountering trouble. It had two separate open cockpits: the one in front was for controlling the two gigantic guns in front of the plane; the one at the back had the responsibility of regulating the powerful engines. It could be flown from either cockpit. Attached to it by a tow line was Nausicaä's glider, Mehve. Like any other kite, it was a flying wing, cream-colored, but with an engine buried in the middle, and handlebars for a person to ride on top of it and skids for it to land on or a person to hang from.

Nausicaä climbed up the boarding ladder and settled herself in the front cockpit. Mito helped her strap in, while Nobu did the same for Asbel in the rear cockpit. She had elected to use the gunship because it was easier to fly farther in the big plane than in Mehve. Once or twice on long flights she had drifted off to sleep while in the glider, like a swallow on the wing, and almost fallen from the sky.

When all the preparations were done, Asbel cleared the area immediately behind the gunship. He gave a thumbs-up sign to Mito, who signaled back with the same gesture. The Prince then started the engines.

A shrill whine began to build in the hangar bay. All the other people there knew what it meant and headed for the nearest shelter, aware of the hurricane-force blast that would soon be shaking the place.

The engines in the gunship's wings came to life with a roar, blue tongues of flame licking out hungrily between the flaps. Dust and debris started swirling around in the confined space.

After checking his instruments for a minute or two, Asbel put his goggles and mask on. He signaled to Mito, who was standing against the far wall to his left, behind the catapult operator. Mito yelled something into the man's ear and, on receiving the answer, gave Asbel a three-count with exaggerated arm gestures.

_Three…_Asbel set the throttles to 75 percent. The catapult began shaking slightly.

_Two… _His hand gripped the control stick more tightly, ready to compensate for the jolt they would receive when the catapult flung them skyward.

_One! _The operator yanked the lever in front of him.

There was a loud, piercing hiss as the device shot the gunship through the open hangar doors and into the air. For a moment Asbel's vision dimmed as the force of the launch shoved him back into the seat and drained the blood from his brain and eyes. Automatically he pushed the throttle forward to 90 percent, hearing a distant twang as the elastic restraints connecting Mehve to its gantry gave way and the glider took to the air behind the gunship.

Nausicaä recovered from the catapult shot and looked behind. The castle was quickly growing smaller.

"Stern cockpit," she said into the intercom. "How high do you suppose we have to go?"

Asbel's voice, sounding tinny and flat, came back to answer her. "Let's try sixteen thousand."

"Okay."

The gunship gradually leveled off. Asbel set course and headed for the distant end of the valley, where the green, fertile land met the World Sea.

Within minutes they were crossing it and heading out over the water. It was dark blue and still. There was no one below them: the runoff from the Forest of Corruption had poisoned the water as well as the land, making fishing all but unfeasible unless one went more than a day's journey from the coast.

As they had discussed earlier in the day, Asbel headed directly west. Their plan was to fly in that direction for about three or four hours, after which Nausicaä would switch to Mehve and go on alone. It was a daring gamble: should the Princess have to turn back, there would be no chance to rest until after the flight straight back home.

The Princess slept most of the way, lulled into slumber by the steady thrum of the engines and the monotony of the sea below them. After four hours had gone by, Asbel decided to wake her.

"Are you sure about this?" he asked her. "Chasing this dream of yours seems… foolhardy."

"Don't worry, I'll take care."

"Okay, Princess. I'll stay here until I can see you no longer." With that, Asbel throttled back until the gunship was almost stalling, almost ready to fall out of the sky.

Nausicaä unbuckled and stood on her seat, bracing herself against the winds that threatened to blow her out into oblivion. She carefully stepped out onto the fuselage and made her way to the back of the plane, passing by Asbel and waving farewell to him. Then she grasped the tow line in her hands and jumped.

She slid along the wire until she reached Mehve. With a deft somersault, she landed on top of it and lay down with her belly on the belt built into the handlebars. She gave a thumbs-up sign to Asbel, who gave the tow line's retaining pin a vigorous tug and suddenly Mehve was free, floating in the air like a great white gull. Reaching down, Nausicaä triggered the engine.

In a minute her glider had caught up with the circling gunship. She waved to the Prince, who waved back and pointed westward. Then she then peeled off, heading for the unknown.

Asbel watched Mehve grow smaller and smaller against the backdrop of the clear blue sky. When it was finally out of sight, he banked the gunship around and headed for home.

_Gods, let her be safe,_ he thought. He couldn't remember Nausicaä doing anything so risky yet so pointless; more so, doing it on a moment's notice because of some voice in her head.

------oOo------

Nausicaä flew on as the day went on, like a bright-winged bird searching for a place to rest. Here and there clouds boiled up past her like tall pillars in a cathedral of air; she knew to avoid them, as they bore hidden dangers within their hearts. She was glad she had taken Mito's advice and worn extra clothing, as she had never flown so high for so long. The cold blast of the wind stung the small parts of her cheeks unprotected by the hard, inflexible Dorok oxygen mask she wore. Its bottle was safely tucked away in the sack of provisions Asbel had given her, and which she wore on her back. Not for the first time that day she was thankful her companion had had more foresight than she did.

That afternoon she happened to look down and, through a break in the clouds, saw a group of little islets far below. She debated whether to land and rest or go on. If she descended, she knew Mehve wouldn't be able to take her this high up again, and her progress afterward would be much slower than before. On the other hand, she was tired and keenly interested in exploring the little islands. Perhaps she would even be the first to set foot on them.

She decided to land. Switching off her engine, it took her more than half an hour to glide down to the islets. She carefully planned her landing, as they were so small she could easily get Mehve dumped in the water. That would be a serious mistake, for although it could take a dunking, there was always the chance that the engine would not start up afterwards.

With a swoosh, the silent glider landed on white sand. Nausicaä hopped off and stretched her body, groaning. She turned off her oxygen supply valve and removed the mask, yawning its marks off her face. Doffing her gloves and stuffing them in her pants' pockets, she rubbed her cold cheeks and looked upward, gladly basking in the warmth of the sun.

"Hello there."

She jumped at the voice. Looking around, she saw nothing unusual, except a small, pink animal with a barrel-like body, four cloven feet, beady little eyes, and a snout that looked a lot like the protruding filter on her own mask.

"Who's there?" she called out. "Asbel?"

"No one by that name here," came the voice, and she swore it came from the thing.

Nausicaä looked askance at it, then at the oxygen mask hanging by its straps around her neck. Maybe the mix was a bit off…

"Who are you?" She saw the animal's mouth move, and her jaw dropped open.

"H-hi," she stammered, addressing the animal. "Is that you talking?"

"Why, of course it is," replied the creature. "Who else?"

"Sorry, it's just that I've never seen your kind before." She sat down on the fine, powdery sand, holding out a hand, palm up. "My name's Nausicaä. What are you called?"

"My name is Boo," the creature replied, trotting up to her and sniffing with its snout her outstretched hand. "Pleased to meet you, Miss Nausicaä. As to what I am… haven't you ever seen a pig before?"

"Pig." The word sounded hard and unlovely to her. "No, I haven't. We don't have pig…"

"Pigs," the animal corrected her. "Plural."

"Pigs… where I come from."

"Where do you come from?" Satisfied with her smell, the pig sat on its haunches and regarded her with those little round eyes.

"The Valley of Wind, on the Eftal coast."

"Never heard of it."

"How about you?"

"I come from Japan. I was a passenger on a container ship and got shipwrecked here."

"Japan?"

The animal seemed to nod, but it was a gross, uncoordinated bobbing of the head. "I've been here for the longest time."

Nausicaä crossed her legs and settled in for a long chat, as the animal didn't seem to want to do without her company. "Do all pigs talk?"

"Why, yes, of course." It made a little squeal. "But where I come from, humans like you don't understand what we say. They think we're dumb and use us as food."

"Goodness!" she exclaimed, horrified.

"You're the first human I've met who can understand what I say," continued Boo. "In fact, you're the first human I've seen in a while. What are you doing here?"

"I was just looking for a place to rest," replied the Princess. "I was heading westward, to find out what lies at the end of the World Sea."

"World Sea?" There was a sawing, snorting sound that she interpreted as laughter. "Last I checked, we were somewhere near Rabaul."

Nausicaä signaled incomprehension.

"Ah, never mind. I know it may seem impolite, Miss Nausicaä, but I want to ask a favor from you, seeing as how you'll probably be the only passer-by I'll see in a long time." The pig stood up on its feet and seemed excited.

"What is it?"

"Could you, ah, take me with you when you go? I'm tired of being all alone here."

"I don't know where I'm headed myself," Nausicaä told it.

"Anywhere new is better than being stuck here."

Nausicaä pondered the request. "Okay. It gets lonely flying all by myself."

The pig squealed again. "Thank you! Oh, thank you!"

So it was that early the next day the Princess of the Valley of Wind took off with one passenger in her sack, along with its gift to her, a strange green round thing the creature said was a coconut, something good to eat. The pig's head protruded from the bag and, as they flew along, it entertained her with chitchat until it fell asleep sometime in the middle of the day.

Nausicaä flew on. The miles seemed endless, and the sea below seemed to stretch into forever. But when she finally started to think about turning back, an island appeared in the distance. They landed on it and spent the night there.

Later that afternoon something strange happened. Nausicaä was feeling the ache in her back from carrying the sack and its piggishly snoring contents, wanting to land and rest for a while, when she flew into a bright white cloud bank she swore didn't exist a minute ago. The light inside the cloud was blinding, even with her helmet's built-in goggles over her eyes. She tried to go over it, but found she couldn't break free of the blinding whiteness. The same thing happened when she tried to fly under it. Then, just as suddenly as it had swallowed her up, it spat her out into the cool, crystal-clear air. She found herself flying over the sea.

Mehve's gyrations had, meanwhile, woken up Boo. "Look!" it exclaimed. "Land!"

Nausicaä saw the same thing her companion did: a strip of green in the hazy distance, stretching from horizon to horizon.

"Maybe it's what I'm looking for," she said, her tiredness disappearing with her renewed enthusiasm.

As they flew towards it, the sun began to set and twilight began to creep in. Little stars started to twinkle in the firmament. The air became much colder.

To the Princess' amazement the stars didn't seem to spring up only in the sky, but on the ground as well.

"Is that a city? I've never seen one so big!" she said to Boo.

"I recognize it," her companion told her. "It's Tokyo! I'm almost home!"

------oOo------

As Nausicaä flew over the city of Tokyo, she marveled at its prosperity, displayed underneath her in a welter of dazzling lights and the hustle and bustle of its inhabitants. Only in the capital city of Torumekia had she seen anything to even remotely match it.

"I see lots of lights down there," she said. "Is this the way this place normally looks?"

"Not really," the pig answered. "Oh, I get it. It's Christmastime."

"Christmastime?" she echoed.

"Yes. It's supposed to be a season for forgiveness and goodwill towards one's fellow man. Not to pigs, though." As Boo explained the occasion further, Nausicaä flew lower, wanting to get a closer look at this amazing place.

"Is this where I'm supposed to go?" she asked of herself. It certainly seemed a wonderful place to stop in. But her heart told her to fly on.

A few minutes later she spied an all-too-familiar sight. "Something's burning down there."

"Uh-huh."

"Let's take a closer look." Mehve dove closer.

A three-story building was on fire. Flames and smoke were billowing up into the night sky. As she sped past it, she spied something that made her heart race.

"There's someone on the roof," she said. "It looks like they're trapped."

"I see them," said Boo.

"I'm going to try to help," Nausicaä said. "Hang on, pig."

She turned off the engine and glided towards the conflagration. She could hear the fire roaring and crackling like a living, breathing thing—and the sound of someone crying.

"It's a child!"

She brought Mehve down into the smoke and onto the roof. As she stepped off the glider, the concrete under her rumbled ominously.

"This doesn't look good," remarked her baggage.

She ran through the thick, choking smoke, towards the sound of distress. It was a little boy, and she found she could understand what he was saying. He was crying for his mommy.

"Hello," she said, coughing, kneeling beside him. "I'm here to help. What's your name?"

"Makoto," he replied, his sobbing dying down a bit.

"Makoto, I'm going to take you to your mommy, okay?" The little boy nodded.

She took him by the hand and led him back to Mehve. Hustling him on board, she told him to hold onto the handlebars and opened a small panel near them, fiddling quickly with the controls.

With a loud, creaking, snapping roar, a portion of the building behind them collapsed, revealing the glowing, burning interior.

"Miss Nausicaä, you'd better hurry up!" called the pig.

"Finished." She slapped the panel shut. "Here we go!"

The timer she had set wound down, and the four lift engines in Mehve's underside came to life, lifting the craft and its passengers off the roof and out of danger.

There was a little turbulence and a scalding wash of heat as they passed the edge of the roof, but otherwise their escape was uneventful. The little boy looked around in wonder as Mehve bore him away from the fire, his tears forgotten.

"We're flying!" he said in his small voice.

"Yes, we are," Nausicaä agreed, smiling at him. "Fun, isn't it?"

He nodded in wide-eyed awe. "Big sister, may I know your name?"

"Huh? Oh, my name's Nausicaä."

"Na-u-shi-ka," he repeated. "That's a funny name."

"Really? I never knew that. Now, where do you think we can find your mother?"

They had to wait in a little park for a more than half an hour before a tall woman with long black hair and sea-green eyes, dressed in a green ribbed sweater and faded blue jeans, ran towards them, frantic with worry.

"Makoto!" she shouted, hugging the boy, relief evident in her face. "I was looking all over for you!"

"She saved me, mommy," said Makoto, looking up at her and pointing a grimy finger in Nausicaä's direction. "I was trapped on the roof, and she came and flew me out."

The woman stood and bowed before Nausicaä, thanking her many times. Embarrassed, the soot-stained Princess said, "It was nothing. I did what anyone else would have done."

"Where are you from?" asked the woman, noting her unusual clothes, not to mention the large winged contraption lying on the ground nearby.

"I'm… from far away."

"Are you going somewhere in a hurry? Because I'd like to invite you to our house for dinner. It's the least I can do to repay you."

"Just make sure she doesn't have _me_ for dinner," grunted a voice from Nausicaä's sack, which she still wore.

"What was that?" the woman asked, looking around.

"What was what?" Nausicaä reached back and covertly gave Boo a tap on the head. "I didn't hear anything."

"Hmm. Must have been from the fire." She looked at the burning building, two blocks away. "Anyway, would you like to?"

"Well…" considered Nausicaä. She had no place to go, had no place to stay, and the guide in her heart kept whispering that it was okay. "I'd be honored to."

Just then a man walked up to them. "Hey, I saw what you did. Can I take a picture of you for my—" he said a word she didn't understand. Confused, but trusting the man's polite and engaging manner, she acceded to his request. He aimed a box-like device which flashed a bright light at her, asked her a few questions, thanked her, and left.

Half an hour later, after a ride in a small car the woman called a Mini, with Nausicaä's kite strapped to its roof, they arrived at a two-story house with a two-car garage. Had she known, Nausicaä would have realized it was a veritable mansion compared to the ordinary Japanese home.

Inside, she was showed the bath and gratefully made use of it, washing herself of the dust and weariness of the day's travel. She had dinner with the family, and then was invited to stay the night. She accepted.

------oOo------

In the guest room later that evening, Boo, who had been hidden in the sack throughout the night, sat despondently beside the Princess' bed. She was lying down on the soft cushions, dressed in a shift Makoto's mother had lent her, unable to sleep because of the strange sights and smells that stirred her blood.

"Miss Nausicaä," it said, "could you let me out?"

"Why, Boo?"

"I–I want to go home."

"Do you know how to get there?"

"No. But this isn't a place for me. Surrounded by all these humans… I'm afraid."

"It'll be okay," the Princess reassured it, patting it on the head. "I don't think it's a good idea to let you loose among all these people." She sat up, and watched the light snow drifting down outside the window. "Maybe we'll find somewhere you can stay without fear of being eaten."

The beady little eyes looked sad. "I hope so." Returning to the bag, the pig nudged it open, crawled in, and lay down.

Partly to comfort the animal, and partly to reassure herself, Nausicaä began to sing a lullaby her father Jhil had taught her. Her voice echoed in the stillness, and Makoto's mother, passing by in the corridor, heard her. She listened to the strange, haunting melody, and wondered some more about their mysterious guest, before going on to her little recording studio in her former bedroom. She was a producer and musician.

------oOo------

"Thank you so much for letting me spend the night here." Nausicaä bowed.

"Thank you for saving my son." Makoto's mother bowed in return. "May I ask you a question?"

"Yes?"

"Last night, I heard you singing."

Nausicaä looked down at the floor. "I was lonely. I'm a long way from home."

"I have no doubt about that now. What was that you were singing?"

"Oh, it was something my father used to sing to me."

"I couldn't understand it. The words, I mean."

"They were in an old language. No one uses it any more."

_"Little girl, go you to sleep now,  
Until the light comes back to the sky  
Dream of a better place  
And wake to a brighter tomorrow."_

"I… see."

"Well… I must be going. Thank you, again."

"Goodbye."

Nausicaä walked away, to where she had set up Mehve in the family's yard, which was dusted with a thin covering of white. She had told them to cover their ears when she took off.

"Why can't she just walk or use the bus, mommy?" Makoto asked his mother as they watched Nausicaä fasten the ear flaps of her helmet and put on her gloves.

"She can't carry her plane on the bus, Makoto, you know that."

"Where did she say she was from again?" asked the boy's father, a freelance photographer who had just celebrated his thirty-fifth birthday the preceding month. He had taken a picture of the young woman with his son on her shoulders last night as a memento of the occasion. His arm was around his wife's waist.

There was a pause before she answered. "The Valley of Wind."

"Valley of Wind?" He frowned. "What prefecture is that in?"

------oOo------

It was cloudy that day, and the wind lashed Nausicaä with its coldness, heralding unpleasant things to come. The city continued on under her and continued to amaze her with new sights to behold. By mid-day she had reached its borders, and paused in a wooded area to rest herself and eat.

Boo busied itself with exploring the place, sniffing here and there, following interesting scents.

"Aren't you hungry?" asked Nausicaä.

"No, I'm still full, thank you."

"You know," she said, munching on some sour-tasting rations that Asbel had included in her pack, "you remind me of a pet I had once. His name was Teto."

"And?"

"He was a fox-squirrel who used to accompany me wherever I went." She smiled at the image of her little companion in her mind, remembering how Lord Yupa had brought the hissing little bundle out of the Forest, and how she had to placate the gigantic Ohmu that was chasing her itinerant mentor.

"Did he talk to you too?"

"No. In fact the first thing he did when I met him was bite my finger."

"Where is he now?"

The smile left her face. "He's dead."

"Why?"

She shook her head. "It's a long, long story." Looking at the morsel of food in her fingers, she added, "Suffice it is to say that the land where I come from is a very violent place."

"I'm sorry to hear that, Miss Nausicaä." The pig eyed her. "You don't look like the sort of person for such a place."

"Oh, but I've lived there all my life. I am the Princess of a people just trying to survive." She popped the food into her mouth and swallowed. "The people of this place are very lucky, being at peace."

"They think little of it. They think it's always been that way, always will be."

"Has it?"

"It's been a lifetime since the last world war. The parents of today's generation haven't tasted its fury." The sawing, snorting sound came from it again. "Perhaps they should. It might improve their character."

Nausicaä looked at Boo, seriousness in her eyes. "I wouldn't wish that on them," she said. "All I've learned about war is that it takes everything away, and gives precious little in return."

------oOo------

That afternoon, it began to snow. Nausicaä doggedly flew on through the slush, as the voice inside her was urging her to hurry, hurry, or she might be too late. She landed and asked twice for directions, asking for a place whose name was growing stronger and clearer inside her. People looked at the damp stranger with the strange flying machine with suspicion in their eyes but, in the spirit of the holiday season, helped her out anyway, pointing her in the right direction.

"Koganei? You're headed the right way," they had told her. "It's over there."

And now, after the last of the sun's light had disappeared from the sky, she found herself in a blizzard. The strength of it was such that within minutes it quickly forced her to land, shivering and forlorn, seeking shelter.

_Not here,_ the voice prompted her. _Not here._

"But I'm so cold," she protested.

_Just a little further._

Mehve made its way back up into the whiteness, and Nausicaä, chilled, watched as ice began to form on the wings.

"Boo? Are you alright?"

"I'm cold, Princess."

"Hang on for a few minutes more."

They flew low, so Nausicaä could see the land they were flying over. They zoomed past some farms and entered an area littered with houses. The flying snow was obscuring, turning everything into a shadowy white flatness.

_There, there._

"Where?"

_Over there. There is home._

"Home? This isn't my home."

_Home._

Then she saw the building, and felt in her heart that the voice was right.

It was a nondescript, three-story affair, painted white, although one couldn't tell that in the whiteness of the winter that wreathed it.

"Boo!" shouted Nausicaä over the wind. "I think I've found it!" She angled Mehve to land in the little open space outside what appeared to be a door. The little pig didn't reply.

She landed in a cloud of snow, Mehve's skids making a loud scraping sound as they hit the ground. She looked into the sack and saw Boo shivering.

"Cold… so cold…"

"We're here, don't worry," said a worried Nausicaä, hugging the bag to her chest. "You'll be warm shortly."

A tall figure, backlit by the bright light coming from inside the building, emerged from the doorway, over which hung a banner that read _Christmas Costume Party. _ "Hello," it called. "I thought I heard something."

"Hello," said Nausicaä, feeling that she had found a friend in what she made out to be a dark-haired young lad dressed in a blue shirt and white leggings. He had a scar underneath one eye, and a red cap sat on his head. A bow and quiver were slung on his back.

"You're a bit late, Princess Nausicaä." The figure stepped aside and motioned for her to come in.

"You know who I am?" The sudden warmth and cheery brightness of the interior was a welcome change from the outside.

"Of course! Everyone's been waiting for you."

"Who—?"

She peeked inside, and saw a gaggle of individuals all looking at her with welcoming smiles.

"Hey! She's here!" shouted a cigarette-smoking, barrel-chested, mustachioed man wearing khaki-colored clothes and leather flying cap, straps undone, with goggles on his head.

There was a chorus of welcomes, and Nausicaä bowed and said "Thank you," although it was still a mystery to her how they knew her and why she was here.

The man came to her and showed her a large piece of paper with pictures and print all over it. "We knew you were coming." He pointed to a picture of her in the lower left corner of the paper. "You're an amazing kid, getting your picture on the front page the first time you're here," he remarked. Putting it down on a nearby table, he took her hand. "Come on. The Chief is waiting."

"Wait. Could you please take him somewhere warm?" she said, handing the man her sack.

"Eh?" The man opened it. "A pig!" he exclaimed, pulling Boo out.

"What's Princess Nausicaä doing with a pig?" she heard someone say.

"I found him. Please don't eat him."

"Eat him?" The man holding Boo roared with laughter, and the ruffianly-looking bunch of men he was with followed suit. "I'd be insulted by what you just said, if anyone else said it. Hey, Curtis, help me with this, will you?"

"Sure thing, Marco." Still shaking with mirth, the mustachioed man departed with the tall, thin aviator he called Curtis, the pig tucked under his arm, to do what Nausicaä requested.

When the other people assured her that Boo wasn't going to be turned into _hors d' oeuvres_, Nausicaä breathed a sigh of relief.

"I see you too have made a long journey," said a low voice.

Turning, she saw the speaker, a huge white wolf standing in the middle of the room. It appeared to bare its fangs threateningly at her, but Nausicaä realized that was so just because it was speaking.

"I am glad to finally meet you," it said. "I am Moro." It pointed with its muzzle to a black-haired girl standing protectively beside it. She was dressed in a white fur shirt and black skirt, a grotesque-looking mask pushed up on her head. Red paint decorated her unsmiling face. "This is my child, San."

San nodded, and Nausicaä bowed. Both were startled by how similar they were to each other in appearance—it was almost as if they were related. "I feel as though I know you," the wind rider remarked.

"So do I," said San, whom Nausicaä later learned was called the _Mononoke-hime_, the Princess of Vengeful Spirits.

"Do you know why we were called here?" the Princess of the Valley of Wind asked.

"For a celebration, I think," the wolf replied. "Though I care not much for the little tanuki that are running around. I'm feeling quite hungry tonight."

San looked up reprovingly at the wolf. "Mother."

The wolf looked down at her and let loose a _woof_ that shook the ceiling and set everyone within earshot jumping in fright.

Nausicaä stepped aside for a young girl wearing an apron and bearing a platter of something that smelled wonderful. "Gangway!" she said as she took it to a nearby table. "Excuse me please!"

Sitting at the table were a young boy and his still younger sister, both in clothes that were obviously brand-new, except for the threadbare white cap on the boy's head. Although they looked happy now, Nausicaä was struck by the suffering etched in their faces. She watched as the apron-wearing girl slid the platter onto the table and said, "Here you go, eat up." With many thanks, they began to devour the food, the brother first making sure that his sister helped herself.

"After all, Setsuko," Nausicaä heard him say, "they said it's all ours. Hurry up so we can return to Father." She found the sight somehow comforting.

A young man with a harassed and awestruck look on his face passed by her, muttering to himself, "I've got to get a picture of this… I must be going out of my mind…"

Nausicaä smiled.

Someone tapped on her elbow, and she turned around to find a boy with glasses and with suspendered shorts offering her a mug of something steaming. She took it gratefully and drank, feeling the hot, sweet liquid returning the warmth to her chilled body.

"Hot chocolate," the boy said. "My favorite during a cold winter day."

"Thank you," said Nausicaä. "It never snows where I live."

"Really?" The boy pushed his rounded spectacles up the bridge of his nose. "It always does in Koriko. You must be lucky, always being warm."

"You think so? I was just thinking that you were lucky, being able to play in the snow and all."

The boy opened his mouth to reply when someone called "Nausicaä!"

She turned to see the speaker, a thin, middle-aged man with a smile on his face—something told Nausicaä that he was unaccustomed to such an expression but wasn't complaining about it, at least for tonight. He too, was wearing eyeglasses. She bowed and excused herself and walked to him.

"Good evening," he said to her as she approached. "I'm sorry to disturb you, but Miya-san is anxious to meet you. Shall we go to him?"

She nodded.

"I hope you didn't have a hard time getting here," the man commented as they walked up a long, narrow flight of stairs. Through the large windows on her right, Nausicaä could see that the blizzard that had given her so much trouble had died down to nothing, leaving in its wake a winter wonderland full of strange and fantastic shapes.

"Not really," she replied, watching as a little band played a joyful tune down on the ground floor and spectators clapped their hands, paws and whatelse in time to the music. "I'm surprised you were able to contact me."

The man smiled. "That's Miya-san. Works in mysterious ways."

They came to a room filled with strange boxy devices with screens displaying different images and letters. A woman was busy at work on one of them.

"Shuuna," said Nausicaä's companion. "Stop working already. The party's started downstairs."

"Just finishing this, boss," she replied, not looking up from the device, tongue sticking out of a corner of her mouth.

They left her alone and ascended to the roof. There was a little garden on it and some seats and tables, which had been cleared of snow.

There was no one there except a man with two little kids, each hanging on to one of his arms, and a little black cat sitting on the top of the low wall ringing the roof. All of the humans wore parkas against the inclement weather. They were staring into the night air at things the Princess could not yet see.

The smaller of the two kids waved and called. "Totoro! I want to ride!"

The other child turned to her. "Mei, come on, he must be tired already," she scolded her.

"I want to ride! I want to ride!" Mei insisted.

At the same time, the cat was yelling, in a funny voice that Nausicaä could understand, but doubted anyone else could, "Kiki! Come back down here this instant! You'll catch a cold flying up there in this weather!"

The man with Nausicaä interrupted the byplay by clearing his throat. "_Shocho,_" he announced. "She's here." Nausicaä stood expectantly, waiting to see the man's face.

He turned around, and the world collapsed into him, became him.

At first she thought her mind was playing tricks on her. She saw Lord Yupa standing there, his face in shadow. The man's parka turned into Lord Yupa's cape, his hood into the tasseled hat her mentor almost always wore. She closed her eyes and shook her head to clear them, thinking that it must be a trick of the dim light or something similar.

When she opened them again, the person had turned back into an old man, bearded and moustached, and yes, with eyeglasses. His eyes looked at her with fondness, and she although she didn't know who he was yet, she instinctively felt he was very important to her. Her whole world, in fact.

"Nausicaä," he said quietly. "At long last I've seen you."

Tears unbidden sprung to the Child of the Wind's eyes, love unlooked-for flared in her heart, and she flung herself at him.

"Father!" she cried.

He put his arms around her, and she trembled at his touch. The two kids with him went to hold each other's hand and look at them, smiling.

"For as long as you are old I've worked on—and worried about—you," the man said as he stroked her hair. "I am glad to see you looking well."

It seemed as though upon seeing him the blinders over Nausicaä's eyes had finally fallen away, and she understood everything.

"You don't have to feel guilty about putting me through everything that happened," she told him, looking up at his face, tears streaming from her eyes.

The man said nothing, but was content to smile down at her. "Seeing you as you are now," he said, "I don't think I have to worry about you any more."

Nausicaä put her head against his chest and cried. Her happiness was a strange, overwhelming feeling.

They stood there for several minutes, while the snow coated their heads and shoulders in a light veneer of white.

"Well," the man said, "I think we ought to go downstairs and announce that the party can get underway. Not that it hasn't, anyway."

The man who had escorted Nausicaä upstairs took hold of Mei and her sister, whose name was Satsuki, and all of them went back downstairs.

One half point less than total pandemonium reigned in the place. Here and there people were running, shouting various things like "Can someone help me? The dust motes are starting to muck up the server!" and "What do I do with these kodamas?" to "Could someone please tell Sheeta and Pazu to get their flyer off my car so I can get some more sake from the store?" and even "Yes, Moro-sama, the food will be along shortly, please have patience." There was also a friendly little scuffle in a corner of the room between the man named Marco and a younger guy wearing a dark blue jacket and white policeman's helmet, while two women, one young and one middle-aged, wearing 1930s period clothing (had Nausicaä known what such a thing was), speaking a language unfamiliar to the Princess, stood nearby, looking on in fond disgust at their juvenile antics, having unsuccessfully tried to stop them. In another corner, two tanuki were busy teaching a pair of high school students how to play poker, while a regal-looking one-armed woman wearing some sort of ceremonial clothing and holding a large straw hat—she reminded Nausicaä of Regent Kushana of Torumekia—and a silent girl about Nausicaä's age, barefoot and clad in a simple snow-white dress, with large, beautiful feathered wings on her back, looked on interestedly.

"Excuse me, everyone," the old man started to say. The room quieted down in an instant, everyone turning to look at them.

"Thank you all for coming. I hope you'll have fun tonight. Please try not to break anything, however. Merry Christmas!"

"Merry Christmas!" everyone returned back at him, whether they understood the phrase or not. The noise started up again.

There was a commotion at the front door, and she and the old man turned to see a large blue-furred creature with upright ears, v-markings on its white chest, and a large grin on its mouth trying to squeeze itself through the doorway. Helping it was a girl in a black dress and with a red bow in her dark hair. The little black cat Nausicaä had seen on the roof was beside her, urging them to greater effort, while beside it two much smaller versions of the large blue creature were pushing a broomstick on the floor out of their way.

The two kids Mei and Satsuki detached themselves from their guardian, the thin man with glasses, and ran towards the scene. "Totoro!" they yelled in unison. "We'll help you!"

There was a squeal, and Nausicaä looked down to see Boo, apparently all right.

"A friend of yours?" the old man asked.

She nodded and scooped the pig up in her arms. "I found him while traveling here. He says he wants to go home, but doesn't know how to. He's afraid of becoming someone's lunch."

The man looked at the pig, then thought for a moment. "Is he well-behaved?"

"He's a fine-spoken individual," replied Nausicaä. "Very polite, and very intelligent."

"Really?" The man patted Boo on the forehead and thought some more.

"Well, provided he agrees to become the studio mascot, I can see no problem in letting him stay here."

"Really?" Boo shouted, although everyone else but Nausicaä heard nothing but loud squealing. "That would be wonderful."

She translated for him, nodding at the old man, and added, "He says a finer gift no man ever gave to him."

"You're welcome," replied the old man. Nausicaä put Boo down on the floor, and the animal trotted away, disappearing happily among the crowd. "Merry Christmas, Nausicaä."

She smiled up at him. The voice in her heart, now faint, spoke one last time.

_Home._

"Merry Christmas, Father."

**THE END**


End file.
